Income Tax changes: Here are the 10 most important announcements FM Nirmala Sitharaman made in Budget 2024 speech

Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman overhauled the taxation regime for charitable organisations to reduce complexity and promote a more streamlined approach. In her Budget 2024 speech in Parliament on July 23, the FM said, “I announce a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961. This will reduce disputes and litigation. It is proposed to be completed in 6 months.”

All Nirmala Sitharaman said about Income Tax

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• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a proposal to reduce customs duties on gold and silver to 6 per cent and 6.5 per cent on platinum.

• Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on mobile phones, mobile printed circuit boards (PCBs), and mobile chargers will be reduced to 15 per cent.
• “TDS rate on e-commerce operators will be reduced from 1 per cent to 0.1 per cent,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.

Also read: Income Tax Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: Govt revises tax structure, standard deduction under new regime

• Sitharaman proposed merging the two tax exemption regimes for charities. At the same time, she announced decriminalizing TDS delays up to the filing of the tax date.
• Union Finance Minister noted, “Monetary limit for filing Tax appeals increased to ₹60 lakhs for ITAT, ₹2 crores for High Courts and ₹5 crores for Supreme Court.”

• Another major announcement for investors was the abolishment of the Angel tax for all classes of investors.

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• A major announcement for corporations was reducing the corporate tax rate on foreign companies from 40 to 35 per cent.
• The Budget brought in some good news for those opting for the new tax regime: the standard deduction for salaried employees has been increased from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000.
• The deduction from family pension has been increased from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 for pensioners, which may reduce the tax burden on about 4 crore individuals and pensioners.
• The deduction permitted for employer contributions to the New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been increased from 10 per cent to 14 per cent of the salary for non-government employees.
• New tax slabs and rates under the new tax regime

The new tax regime introduces revised tax slabs as follows:

• 0-3 lakh rupees: Nil

• 3-7 lakh rupees: 5%

• 7-10 lakh rupees: 10%

• 10-12 lakh rupees: 15%

• 12-15 lakh rupees: 20%

• Above 15 lakh rupees: 30%

It is important to note that the existing direct and indirect tax rates have not been changed. As per the Budget 2024, short-term gains on certain financial assets will attract a tax rate of 20 per cent, while long-term gains on financial and non-financial assets will attract a tax rate of 12.5 per cent.

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Another important point is the increase in the exemption limit for capital gains on certain financial assets to ₹1.25 lakh per year.

The Budget 2024 also introduced Tax base expansion as the Securities Transactions Tax on futures and options of securities has been increased.